Death Knights
|rarity = Very Rare |casting_cost = |upkeep_cost = per turn |research_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = +30% To Hit Poison Immunity Weapon Immunity Illusions Immunity Cold Immunity Death Immunity Armor Piercing First Strike Life Steal -4 }} Death Knights are a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. Death Knights belong to the Realm, and may be summoned using a Summoning Spell of the same name. Death Knights are one of the most powerful Melee Attack units in the game. They combine high mobility with survivability and deadly close combat prowess. In addition, units slain by Death Knights have a chance of rising again as Undead to serve the master of these dark riders. The Fantastic Unit Physical Description Death Knights possess the weapons and abilities of choice for apocalyptic riders and personifications of death. When summoned, a they appear as shrouded, armored humanoids, with only their glowing red eyes shining out from under their hoods. On the battlescape however, Death Knights appear more fully exposed as skeletal warriors. They ride supernatural, flying black steeds, and wield death's symbolic weapon, the scythe. They are clearly undead revenants of some sort, and their creation represents the absolute pinnacle of a necromancer's craft — harnessing the remains of high-ranking warriors and priests. Death Knights are a containing up to 4 of these creatures. Attack Properties Death Knights are superior Melee Attackers, combining strong offensive attributes with deadly special abilities. The Death Knights' attack has a strength of , and they strike with uncanny accuracy, possessing a bonus of . Each Knight inflicts about points of "raw" per attack on average which, with , can amount to some very serious damage. As these creatures possess First Strike, any attack they initiate against an enemy will deal separate from, and preceding the target's Counter Attack, unlike how it would normally be the case. This means that any destroyed by the Death Knights actually won't be able to Counter Attack at all! However, this ability does not work when the Death Knights themselves are being attacked, and can also be nullified by Negate First Strike, a trait possessed by some specialized Normal Units. But further improving their attacks is the Death Knights' Armor Piercing ability, which marks them as delivering Armor Piercing Damage. This means that when defending against these, an opposing unit can only use half of its normal score - effectively lowering its potential reduction by 50%. This has a profound effect against heavily armored targets, although it is less noticeable against lightly defended units. Because of its placement in the effective resolution order, this effect even works against magical and conditional protections, although it does not apply to a bonus granted by City Walls. Last, but not least, Death Knights also have an "added effect" to their Melee- and Counter Attacks. As a Touch Attack, their Life Steal is affixed to each individual Knight's attack, which means that every time they engage in melee, it is performed as many times as the unit has remaining - forcing the opponent to try and resist each of these, or suffer additional Life Stealing Damage. The Death Knights' ability carries a penalty, making it even more likely that the target will take at least some , as the actual amount dealt is determined by the difference between a failed roll, and the result that would have been needed for success. For example, if a target has , they would need a 5''' or lower to emerge unharmed. On a roll of '''8, they would take 8 - 5 = points of . This Damage Type also has some special properties. For one, each point inflicted on the enemy will also remove a point of from the Death Knights themselves! Not only does this allow them to regain lost , but if they are undamaged, any single attack that causes at least will also grant them a temporary maximum per - or even more if it also exceeds or , since the amount they gain is calculated by dividing the "overhealing" by their maximum count of . These only last until the end of the battle though, and do not carry over to the overland map. Life Stealing Damage is also always considered to be of the "Create Undead" type, which can cause slain enemy units to rise as Undead to serve the Death Knights' master after the battle. This happens if the destroyed unit has suffered at least as much of this type of as regular Damage Points, and more of it than any Irreversible Damage; although Heroes, combat summons, and creatures are exempt from this effect. The ability itself is also associated with the Realm, and may trigger conditional bonuses and immunities that make some targets harder, or even impossible to affect. Finally, the Death Knights' army needs to win the battle for this to work at all as well, and there must be space left in their stack for any risen units. Life Stealing is also beneficially affected by two noteworthy bugs in the latest official game version, which make it even more powerful than it otherwise would be. The first of these, known as the "Combat Healing Bug", can grant units temporary extra whenever they regain a during a battle, and should trigger quite often if the Death Knights take enough to start losing . Yet, the other one may be more useful still, as it allows them to ignore the prohibitive effect that Irreversible Damage has on restorative abilities. While the first of these bugs is fixed in the Unofficial Patch 1.50, the latter remains uncorrected. Defensive Properties Death Knights are heavily armored, with a Defense score of , and can block about points on average from Conventional Damage attacks. Only powerful attackers have a reasonable chance of getting through this armor. Although Death Knights also possess Weapon Immunity, this typically won't grant them a significant benefit, as it only raises their Defense to - a meager improvement. However, it may still help against opponents with the Armor Piercing trait, since the resulting score can not be halved by Armor Piercing Damage. This immunity works against most attacks made by Normal Units with Normal Weapons. It can trigger against , , and , but not for , , or . However, it is ignored by Heroes, Fantastic Units and, in the latest official game version, also "generic" units (Catapults, Triremes, Galleys and Warships) - as well as any unit with enchanted or enhanced quality weapons, such as those provided by a spell or an Alchemists' Guild. Death Knights have per , making this a very survivable unit. Like most other creatures from the Realm, they also possess a variety of other immunities: Poison Immunity, Illusions Immunity, Cold Immunity and Death Immunity. These render them completely invulnerable to a wide array of Unit Curses and Special Damage attacks. Finally, when that is not enough, Death Knights have an exceptional Resistance score of , which means that ill-effects that do not inflict a Resistance penalty actually have no chance of affecting them at all. Other Properties Death Knights are a unit, and a fast one at that - with a Movement Allowance of . This is very important for them, especially on the battlefield, where it allows them to properly utilize their First Strike ability. Despite the logical assumption, Death Knights are not considered to be Undead (as the game defines this term) - they are simply Fantastic Creatures of the Realm. As such though, Death Knights can not heal naturally, and may only restore lost through their Life Steal ability or a spell. Basic Tactics Death Knights are one of the most powerful close combat units available in the game, especially if they use cunning and proper tactics to maximize their potential. Their fast movement and ability allows them to avoid most units on the battlefield. This can be utilized both to bypass the enemy line to get at the soft Ranged Attackers in the rear, and to take full advantage of the Death Knights' First Strike by limiting engagements to attacks initiated by themselves. Coupled with Life Steal, this can be a devastating tactic even against stronger enemy units. The Death Knights can engage a strong enemy Melee Attacker, then withdraw to attack some weaker enemy unit - restoring their by stealing life from that enemy - before returning to attack the stronger unit again. For this reason, it is often worth leaving the less dangerous enemies until last, especially since weaker units will typically be annihilated by the Death Knights in but one strike, limiting their usefulness as Life Steal targets. Enemy Death Knights Death Knights are quite rare creatures, especially when compared to other units, although they will occasionally be found guarding strong Encounter Zones or Towers of Wizardry. They are most often alone, which is fortunate, as even a single unit of these creatures is very dangerous. Death Knights are particularly difficult to destroy. They can easily withdraw and switch targets as they see fit, and may regain many of their lost whenever they attack an enemy unit. Spells, especially those that specifically target creatures, may be necessary to take them out. Because of their close combat prowess, only very powerful units stand a chance against them in Melee. Weaker units should stay as far away from Death Knights as possible - attacking them with one will only serve to heal them up. Ability Overview +30% To Hit * This unit has an extra to hit its target with every die of its Attack Rolls. This improves its statistical chance to inflict more with each attack it makes. Weapon Immunity * This unit is considered to have a Defense score of against attacks made by Normal Units with . Poison Immunity * This unit cannot be hurt by Poison Damage. It will automatically pass any roll to avert such damage. Illusions Immunity * Illusion Damage inflicted on this unit does not bypass its . The unit gets to make its Defense Rolls as normal. * During combat, this unit will spot all enemy Invisible creatures regardless of how close they are. Those creatures become semi-visible on the screen, and may be targeted by spells like any other unit. * This unit may not be targeted by , , , or . Cold Immunity * This unit is considered to have a Defense score of against Cold Damage. It will almost never be hurt by the and spells. Death Immunity * This unit will not be affected by most spells and abilities associated with the Realm. Armor Piercing * Whenever this unit attacks an enemy target (whether with a Melee- or Counter Attack) the target's rating is temporarily assumed to be 50% lower than it really is. * This ability also halves the bonus granted by most magical and conditional protections, although it has no effect on immunities or the benefit bestowed by City Walls. First Strike * When this unit initiates a Melee Attack during its own turn, it delivers its Melee Damage before the opponent, although if the target has a Gaze Attack, that is still resolved before this. * Any enemy killed in the First Strike do not get to deal their own damage to the attacker. Life Steal -4 * When this unit makes a Melee Attack or Counter Attack, it also executes a Touch Attack delivering Life Stealing Damage with a Resistance penalty of . * For each Death Knight , the target has to make one Resistance check, and every failed roll results in it taking an additional amount of equal to how much it failed its check by. * For each point of done by this ability, its possessor also regains . This can not only restore , but if the unit is already at full health, it can also grant temporary extra until the end of the battle. However, for this to happen, a single Life Stealing attack must do more than the Death Knights' maximum count of . The additional gained are equal to the amount that the unit would heal over its maximum, divided by the count, and rounded down. * This ability deals "Create Undead Damage", which has the capacity of raising slain units as Undead under its possessor's control. This requires that the Death Knights' army wins the battle, has room left in their stack, and that the destroyed unit suffered more of this type of than Irreversible-'', and at least as much as regular Damage Points. The Summoning Spell Usage Death Knights may only be cast overland, for the base Casting Cost of . Upon successfully casting the spell, the new Death Knights unit will appear in the Town currently containing the Wizard's Summoning Circle, with full Movement Allowance, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary. To keep the Death Knights in play, its controller is required to pay an Upkeep Cost of per turn. This is drawn automatically from the caster's pool at the beginning of each turn while the unit exists. Failure to pay this Upkeep due to lack of will lead to the Death Knights immediately disappearing, along with any Unit Enchantments currently affecting it. However, this upkeep is ''for the unit, not for the spell: Summoning Spells can not be dispelled by the enemy once cast. Naturally though, if the unit is destroyed, then it is gone from the world entirely, and there is no further need to pay its Upkeep Cost. Units summoned on the overland map may also be dismissed manually from their unit statistics window the same way as any other overland unit (during their controller's turn, while not in combat). Acquisition As a Very Rare Spell of the Realm, Death Knights may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least Spellbooks. With any less, the spell can normally not be learned during the campaign. This is the minimum requirement for it to be traded for, appear in Treasure, or be found in the spoils of victory when conquering the Fortress of a rival Wizard who already knows it. The base chance for Death Knights to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 10% (with books), which gradually increases with the amount of Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of , although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, and/or Conjurer Retorts; or a bookshelf containing or more. Death Knights may not be acquired at the start of the game, regardless of the amount of books selected from the starting picks. It must always be either researched or found. However, a bug exists in the official game, that may occasionally allow Death Knights to be researched with only books despite its Rarity. This can happen if, and only if, the second Spellbook comes from Treasure, as it then allows a random Very Rare Spell to be researched, which has a flat 10% chance of being this spell. This oversight is corrected in the Unofficial Patch 1.50. Category:Units Category:Fantastic Creatures Category:Death